Why tech giants will rake in AI’s big gains 6 Feb 2024 Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Alphabet powered roughly 8% of 2023’s North American venture deals, largely in artificial intelligence. In this Exchange podcast, Altimeter Capital investor Apoorv Agrawal explains why these companies are reaping rewards from the latest tech craze.
Apple’s AI absence may be its advantage 1 Feb 2024 Microsoft and Alphabet pepper quarterly results with the promise of artificial intelligence. The $2.9 trln Apple barely mentions it. The risk is a giant missed opportunity. But its gadgets may indirectly benefit, and without the ballooning capital expenditure at peers like Meta.
Paytm’s smackdown has a full and final feel 1 Feb 2024 The payments bank of India’s top fintech has been barred by the regulator from receiving deposits. The reputational damage may prompt other lenders to pull back from working with the loss-making $6 bln company. It makes Warren Buffett’s recent painful exit look well-timed.
Alphabet may envy Microsoft’s AI Midas touch 31 Jan 2024 Massive expectations of how artificial intelligence will reshape technology have boosted both companies’ valuations. But comparing their latest results suggests the $3 trln software firm run by Satya Nadella is moving quicker and more decisively to turn its bets into gold.
Philips sees dim light at end of tortuous tunnel 29 Jan 2024 The $19 bln Dutch medical-kit maker faces a lengthy ban on selling ventilators in the US. Despite the hit, CEO Roy Jakobs is confident he can meet his business goals. Yet a possible fine, as well as litigation arising from faulty machines, will keep weighing on investors’ minds.
Dismantling Evergrande exposes Hong Kong-China gap 29 Jan 2024 A court in the financial hub has ordered the world’s most indebted developer to liquidate after talks with offshore creditors collapsed. Yet how this will be enforced on the mainland, where most of Evergrande’s assets are, is unclear. The experience of HNA may offer some clues.
Indonesia’s nickel policy looks fragile 26 Jan 2024 Outgoing President Joko Widodo's push to embed the country into electric-vehicle supply chains is under scrutiny ahead of elections next month. Global companies face an anxious wait to see if the policy will be fine-tuned; beyond the polls other threats are piling up too.
IBM boom suggests a lack of pattern recognition 25 Jan 2024 AI is thriving, says CEO Arvind Krishna. Investors responded by giving IBM shares their best day in 23 years. Yet the tech firm’s reported numbers are pedestrian. Until the benefits show up in top-line growth, IBM’s promise remains – in AI-speak – a hallucination.
Tesla’s secret weapon: US automakers’ flaws 24 Jan 2024 The $650 bln electric-car maker’s fourth quarter continues to show the strain of stalling growth and falling prices as Chinese rivals rise. A long-sought cheap model is a ways off, but boss Elon Musk has one big fillip: old-guard rivals are still behind in his home market.
Venture capital’s facelift shows modest scars 24 Jan 2024 Growth-company investors are paying higher prices, new data suggests, even if dealmaking overall is still muted. Interest is shifting to areas like AI and manufacturing. The result is a new look for the recovering startup ecosystem, albeit with a little less youthful vigor.
Capital Calls: SAP, Abrdn 24 Jan 2024 Concise views on global finance: The German software giant is cutting 7% of its workforce, sending shares to an all-time high; outflows at the British fund manager accelerated in the second half of 2023, exacerbating the company’s effort to turn itself around.
ASML is underplaying its strengths 24 Jan 2024 The semiconductor giant kept its 2024 outlook reined in despite hefty quarterly earnings. US and Dutch export controls that affect chipmaking tools have begun to dip into China sales. But a hefty orders backlog and rising chip demand should help the $330 bln group fly higher.
Samsung may finally listen to pushy shareholders 24 Jan 2024 Palliser and other outsiders want the South Korean conglomerate’s defacto holding firm, Samsung C&T, to boost returns. It’s underperformed for years but if a court ruling goes in the favour of group leader Jay Y Lee next month, he’ll have a new reason to listen to agitators.
Sony enters a painful new M&A season in India 23 Jan 2024 The Japanese giant is ditching the agreed union of its Indian unit with $3 bln broadcaster Zee. Sony dodges a difficult partner but it will prolong the slugfest in the country's cutthroat entertainment industry. The plot could thicken and disrupt rival Disney's dealmaking too.
Ola IPO will drive Indian EVs back to the future 19 Jan 2024 The SoftBank-backed e-scooter maker is revving up to go public at a mooted $8 bln valuation. The deal, plus a burgeoning home market, marks a moment reminiscent of an earlier mania for Chinese upstarts like Nio. Investors hoping for a similar ride, though, may be disappointed.
AI startups’ key challenge is creativity, not cost 9 Jan 2024 Developing humanlike models is notoriously expensive. In this Exchange podcast, venture capital investor Konstantine Buhler of Sequoia Capital discusses how new breakthroughs are starting to lower costs and how that presents opportunities for challengers like OpenAI.
Samsung is primed to seize AI chipmaking crown 9 Jan 2024 The $390 bln Korean giant could become a one-stop shop for AI semiconductors. Losses in its memory chip unit are probably shrinking, and it is bulking up in logic chips and packaging. Samsung is rapidly moving towards a level of integration that could give it an edge over TSMC.
VinFast charges up its stock market unsuitability 9 Jan 2024 The $16 bln electric-vehicle maker has replaced both its CEO and CFO within five months of going public via a SPAC. The new boss is founder Pham Nhat Vuong, who owns almost all its stock. The latest moves are a reminder that VinFast looks and acts like a private firm.
Mobileye’s bullwhip will come for Nvidia too 4 Jan 2024 The maker of chips for autonomous-car systems warned that customer stockpiling would hit first-quarter revenue. Gluts are inevitable across the industry, but this one sent the Intel-backed company’s shares down 25%. AI-semiconductor suppliers are bound to face similar surpluses.
Atos plea to creditor banks could backfire 3 Jan 2024 The 780 mln euro French IT group wants lenders to roll over its large debt pile. Plans to raise cash by selling Atos’s cybersecurity arm to Airbus suggest they should. But the company’s threats to seek legal protection if they don’t may give banks pause for thought.